Education Coalition Urges E-Rate Reform

WASHINGTON – An education coalition comprised of Digital Learning Now! (DLN), the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the Alliance for Excellent Education, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), Chiefs for Change, the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and  Knowledge Alliance today submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking to review and modernize the E-Rate program.

The coalition offered six principles to ensure a reformed and revitalized E-Rate program that better serves the needs of all U.S. students:
1. Expedited Action is Needed. All stakeholders recognize that this review process is long overdue, as rules designed in the 1990’s still shape technology funding decisions almost 20 years later. We urge the FCC to have reforms in place before the 2014-2015 school year begins. Our nation’s students cannot wait another school year without the benefits of the high-capacity broadband networks they need to succeed globally.

2. Schools Need to Control Their Own Technology Future. Each state, library, school district, and charter school is embracing digital learning and technology in different ways. This exciting era of experimentation needs flexible E-Rate funding rules to allow local communities to shape their own network and technology needs. The foundation of digital learning is flexibility and individualization, not one-size-fits-all answers.

3. E-Rate is Part of Broader Education Technology Efforts. E-Rate is critical to our nation’s successful transition to digital learning, but it is only one piece of a much broader reform effort. While properly limited to its statutory objective of connectivity, the FCC’s reforms should reflect parallel efforts to empower curriculum reform, teacher training, digital textbook adoption, and new modes of online and blended learning.

4. The Application Process Should be Streamlined to Better Reflect Education Procurement. The E-Rate application process is too complicated and introduces too much uncertainty into school funding decisions. Reform should be focused on simplifying the process, incorporating concepts from non-technology education procurement, and encouraging states and consortia to be more active in the program.

5. Allow for Future Innovation. The FCC would miss a significant opportunity if it simply updated its rules to reflect the immediate needs of schools. Reform should allow for the continued evolution of digital learning and new innovative solutions. Indeed, emerging broadband-dependent models of education, such as blended and online learning, are too often forced to operate without the benefit of E-Rate support. Policymakers can open up new models of learning, or it can restrict them. The FCC can help foster a policy climate that is open to innovation and accelerates new models of learning.

6. Fiscal Reasonability is Fundamental to Successful Reform. All stakeholders must recognize that federal funds are limited, and that average consumers are responsible for funding these vital national priorities. Reform should ensure schools have the level of connectivity mandated by the Communications Act in a manner that encourages programmatic fiscal discipline; limits waste, fraud, and abuse; and is respectful of the impact on the monthly phone bills of all Americans.
The E-Rate program was enacted by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to provide discounts to public and private schools and libraries to help connect them to the Internet. At the time, only 14 percent of classrooms had Internet access; and, of those, 74 percent used dial-up. By 2005, the program had helped successfully connect 94 percent of U.S. classrooms to the Internet.

The program has provided the necessary foundation for connectivity in schools; however, additional high-speed broadband and network resources are needed for students to benefit from technological advances and emerging education models, including online and blended learning.

The coalition includes CCSSO, the Alliance for Excellent Education, iNACOL, Chiefs for Change, the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Knowledge Alliance, and DLN (a national initiative under the Foundation for Excellence in Education). The coalition seeks consensus-based solutions that will help ensure that the FCC’s reforms are fully reflective of the education community’s needs for 21st-century learning.